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Albion Rovers F.C. |
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| Located in Coatbridge, Scotland (approx. 10 miles - 17 km) to the east of Glasgow, "The Rovers", as fans call them, (official nickname The Wee Rovers) play in the Third Division of the Bells’ Scottish Football League. Historically, the town’s proximity to Glasgow has made it difficult for Rovers to attract supporters, as the "Old Firm" of Rangers and Celtic are a big draw to the local inhabitants. |
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| In 1882, two local clubs, Rovers and Albion, amalgamated to form the club with the name which kept supporters of both clubs happy. The new club played at two different locations - Cowheath and Whifflet - in the first couple of years before settling in the latter. They have played at Cliftonhill Stadium since its opening on Christmas Day 1919 (St. Mirren won the game 2-0). The club was admitted into The Scottish Football League in 1903, where they have stayed ever since. |
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| In season 1919/20, they had their finest moment (to date!) when they reached the final of the Scottish Cup by beating Rangers in a second replay of the semi-final at Parkhead. The final against Kilmarnock at Hampden Park, Glasgow was watched by 95,600 and Rovers gave a good account of themselves before going down by the narrow margin of 3-2. Astonishingly, Rovers again reached the semi-final the following season, but this time were beaten 4-1 by Rangers. |
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| Since those halcyon days, things have generally been quiet around Cliftonhill, with only a few moments of note to brighten the scene. The stadium has (at various times - in addition to, not replacing football) played host to Speedway and Greyhound Racing and has a legal capacity of approx. 2500 (although the record crowd is 27500). The seats in the grandstand were purchased from Third Lanark FC when they became bankrupt in 1967 and new floodlights installed in 1998 included lamps from Cardiff Arms Park (which was demolished to make way for a new stadium). The club’s colours were changed from Blue and White to the current Yellow and Red in 1961. |
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| Second Division championships in 1933/34 and 1988/89 comprise the main highlights, with a few unexpected cup victories thrown in for good measure. | |||
| Several few years ago, a boardroom coup led to a complete overhaul of Rovers’ administration, and contrary to the impression given by oft-repeated sniping from certain sections of the popular press, significant improvements have been made to Cliftonhill’s ageing facilities under the direction of Chairman Andrew Dick and his colleagues. The new board sold a piece of ground at the rear of the terracing for a figure in excess of £100,000 for housing purposes. This sale made a huge impact on the club’s debt and put Rovers on a firmer financial footing. Andrew Dick resigned from the board in July 2005. |
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| Albion Rovers were until 2000 a part-time
team, with the players having to work during the week to make a living.
They trained twice a week honing their
skills. In season 1999-2000 however, Rovers started with a full time
manager in John McVeigh and 37 full-time players (as well as one
part-timer), achieved largely due to Government employment training
grants. The players were mostly in the 18 - 20 age range and even
contained a foreigner (Frenchman Yannis Begue). To most Scottish
football supporters the changes at Cliftonhill are astonishing. The
full-timers were cut in numbers at the end of 2000-2001 season due to
financial constraints.
John McVeigh resigned at the end of the 2001-2002 season after leading Rovers to third place missing out on promotion by two points. John McVeigh's replacement as full-time manager is Peter "Silky" Hetherston. Ironically Hetherston was McVeigh's replacement as Raith Rovers manager too. Unfortunately Rovers full-time contingent was cutback once more at the end of 2001-2002 season. |
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Peter Hetherston resigned in December 2003 after leading the club to 3rd place the previous season. His replacement was Kevin "Crunchie" McAllister a veteran player having spent time with Chelsea and Falkirk. His initial appointment was until the end of the season and that was late made permanent. |
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| Over the years, Cliftonhill stadium has served Rovers well but the amount of money needed for upkeep has now becoming unreasonable. In 2000 Rovers’ board had talks with local rivals Airdrieonians with a view to ground sharing at The Shyberry Excelsior Stadium. Airdrie were at that time on the brink of bankruptcy, and the prospect of Rovers selling Cliftonhill to a property developer and investing the proceeds with them was appealing. Ironically, it was the previous board’s intention to groundshare at Airdrie at their as yet unbuilt stadium that directly led to the coup which ousted them from power. |
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| Airdrieonians subsequently went bust and a
new team Airdrie United were formed to take their place in the league
but the league members instead voted for Gretna to fill the vacancy.
United found their way into the league by the back door, buying
Clydebank F.C. who were virtually bankrupt and changing their name and
location to Airdrie.
Their stadium was purchased by a developer in June 2004 had Rovers had talks with the new owners to rent there (alongside Airdrie United) as Cliftonhill remains in serious need of improvement. A housebuilder offered a multi-million pound deal to buy the land at Cliftonhill but the shareholders decided it would be better to take another year to investigate alternatives to leaving the hometown. |
